Immigrant and native-born adolescents’ civic knowledge and attitudes in Sweden and the United States: Emergent citizenship within developmental niches

Abstract

Using the Developmental Niche for Emergent Participatory Citizenship (Torney-Purta and Amadeo, 2011) as a framework, we examined differences between immigrant and native-born youth's civic knowledge and support for women's rights in Sweden and the United States, and explored whether experiences with peers and parents, and in formal and informal educational contexts, could account for such differences. Using data from the IEA Civic Education Study of 1999, we found that immigrants had lower civic knowledge and less support for women's rights than their native-born peers in both countries. Differences in civic knowledge were partially explained in both countries by the lower likelihood of immigrants speaking the tested language at home, and remaining gaps were moderated by differences in the association of school activities with knowledge between the two groups. Gaps in support for women's rights were partially explained by differences in language spoken at home (a possible proxy for cultural dissimilarity) in the United States, but not in Sweden. Experiences in various social or educational contexts, including perceptions of

Chinese immigrant students in Hong Kong: Exploring performance and influences on their civic learning

“…As mentioned previously, the results regarding the association between immigrant status and students’ civic knowledge are not consistent (Schulz et al, , ). Although there seems to be a general consensus that immigrant students are disadvantaged in civic learning (Barber et al, ; Schulz et al, , ), analysis of the ICCS 2016 shows that the association between students’ immigrant background (their parents’ immigrant status) was not significant in six out 20 countries/societies that also differ widely in terms of geographic location, political structures, colonial history, and economic development, namely Chile, Croatia, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Malta, and Russia (Schulz et al, ). Despite this pattern, there has been a dearth of studies examining how students’ immigrant status (regardless of their parents’ immigrant status) might be associated with their civic knowledge.…”

“…The 2016 International Civics and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016), however, classified students into two groups, those from an immigrant family (both parents born abroad) and those from a non‐immigrant family (“at least one parent was born in the country where the survey was conducted”), “regardless of where the student was born” (Schulz et al, , p. 67). Regardless of varied definitions, results of previous studies have shown that, on average, both immigrant students and students from immigrant families are found to have low civic knowledge compared to their peers (Barber, Torney‐Purta, Wilkenfeld, & Ross, ; Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Kerr, & Losito, ; Schulz et al, ). For instance, as shown in the ICCS 2016 international report, students from non‐immigrant families had significantly better civic knowledge than those from immigrant families in 14 out 20 countries/societies.…”

“…The Programme for International Student Assessment also used the three-group definition and named firstand second-generation immigrants as "students with an immigrant background" (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2016, p. 243). The 2016 International Civics and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016), however, classified students into two groups, those from an immigrant family (both parents born abroad) and those from a non-immigrant family ("at least one parent was born in the country where the survey was conducted"), "regardless of where the student was born" (Schulz et al, students and students from immigrant families are found to have low civic knowledge compared to their peers (Barber, Torney-Purta, Wilkenfeld, & Ross, 2015;Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Kerr, & Losito, 2010;Schulz et al, 2017). For instance, as shown in the ICCS 2016 international report, students from non-immigrant families had significantly better civic knowledge than those from immigrant families in 14 out 20 countries/societies.…”

Teachers as role models in the political socialization process: How a good student–teacher relationship can compensate for gender differences in students’ gender equality attitudes

“…A good example of a caring and responsive teacher is one who implements classroom discussions and gives students the opportunity to influence the content discussed in the classroom. The influence of teaching practices used by these teachers has been analysed by classroom climate research (Barber et al 2015;Campbell 2008;Isac et al 2014). In this study we will not focus on the tools used by teachers but on the relational aspects in particular.…”

Rethinking Students’ Dispositions towards Civic Duties in Urban Learning Ecologies

“…Barber, Torney-Purta, Wilkenfeld, and Ross (2015) remarked that civic attitudes are part of the emergent participatory citizenship multidimensional construct that enables young people to retain full citizenship maturity. These scholars reiterated that the writings on emergent participatory citizenship placed appreciable prominence on civic attitudes.…”